How To Get The Most From Your Cryotherapy Session

Cryotherapy has gained popularity over the last ten years for its effectiveness in providing many therapeutic benefits. While localized forms of cryotherapy have been used by doctors for years for many things, like treating warts and cancer cell removal, whole-body cryotherapy has gain popularity among celebrities and professional athletes. It can aid in sports recovery, reduce inflammation, enhance athletic performance, enhance the skin, and provide many other benefits that give good reasons why it’s a widely sought-after treatment for optimizing health and wellness. There are also a number of things you can do to make sure you get the most from each cryotherapy session. 

Whole-body cryotherapy involves immersing the whole body in a chamber of extremely cold temperatures for a few minutes. Even though it’s a reasonably quick treatment, cryotherapy is highly effective. And like any other type of therapy, maintenance is vital if you want to see the best results from it. It’s best to get regular treatment sessions to experience the full range of benefits from cryotherapy long-term.

This article will cover what cryotherapy is and how you can get the most from your sessions to reap the full benefits.

What is Cryotherapy?

Cryotherapy is a full-body treatment ideal for optimizing your health, preventing injury, and aiding in recovery. It involves exposing the body to extremely low temperatures in order to trigger a full-body anti-inflammatory reaction. You may be familiar with small-scale versions of this type of treatment, such as ice baths and even using ice packs to reduce inflammation in specific areas of the body. A whole-body cryotherapy session is an effortless and straightforward procedure that only takes 2-3 minutes and benefits the entire body and even the mind. It’s been shown to:

• Reduce inflammation
• Reduce stress
• Improve sleep
• Reduce anxiety
• Help manage inflammatory skin conditions
• Aid in muscle pain and recovery
• Reduce arthritis pain
• Help treat migraine headaches

During your session, you’ll enter the full-body cryotherapy chamber and remain there for the duration of the treatment. For some people, the cold temperature may be uncomfortable at first, but many people get used to it more and more with each session. 

Inside the chamber, the body will be exposed to liquid nitrogen in subzero temperatures, typically between -100 to -140 Celcius or -148 to -220 Fahrenheit. For best results, patients are required to wear minimal clothing during the session. This can include underwear, socks, gloves, and possible ear muffs and a mask to protect the ears and face if needed. 

A technician will be with you throughout your entire session to monitor you and ensure the session is proceeding as it should. And if at any time you need to stop before the entire session is over, you’ll be able to notify your technician and stop immediately. 

Once your cryotherapy session is over, it’s normal to feel the sensation of pins and needles, which should go away after a few minutes. There is no downtime needed, so after your session, you’ll be able to go about your daily activities as usual immediately.

How to Make the Most Out of Your Cryotherapy Session

The best way to get the most effective results and maintain your results from cryotherapy is to have regular sessions. However, you can also take extra measures to experience the full benefits of each session and help the effects last longer in between sessions. 

Let’s look at some tips to help you make the most out of each of your cryotherapy sessions.

Make Sure You’re Completely Dry

It’s important to make sure that your skin and any clothes you wear inside the cryotherapy chamber are completely dry before stepping in. Any moisture on your skin or clothes will almost instantly freeze in the cryotherapy chamber. Your technician may provide a towel to make sure you’re completely dry before, but it’s not a bad idea to bring your own in case no towel is provided.

Book A Cryotherapy Session After Strenuous Exercise

If you want to receive the full potential of cryotherapy, it’s best to book your session ahead of time to take place as soon as possible after the activity or event instead of waiting to book after the fact when any soreness, inflammation, or other effects can set in. Having a cryotherapy session immediately after can significantly shorten the time you experience any side effects from your activities or even prevent the onset of them entirely. 

Eat A Balanced, Healthy Diet

Cryotherapy isn’t a miracle cure-all by itself, and patients see the best results when they combine cryotherapy with a healthy, balanced lifestyle that includes their diet as well. It’s also really important to eat a balanced, healthy diet after each cryotherapy session. Eating whole foods will prevent the buildup of toxins in your body and promote faster healing and recovery. 

When you combine cryotherapy with eating a balanced diet, it can even help you receive more quality nutrients from your daily diet. This combination allows for better-quality nutrients to reach the cells at an enhanced rate due to the boosted circulation that cryotherapy provides. This can result in better performance from your body’s systems and, therefore, see better effects from the cryotherapy in between sessions.

Stay Hydrated

Whole-body cryotherapy has a mild detoxification effect. You may need to drink more water than you normally would to stay hydrated after your cryotherapy session. It’s also important to stay hydrated afterward to ensure that the toxins keep moving and get flushed out of your system. Make sure you drink plenty of water pre and post-session. You can also schedule an IV therapy appointment if you need extra help staying hydrated after your cryotherapy session. 

Eat Before Your Session

You don’t want to go into your cryotherapy session with a full stomach, but you also don’t want to go into it on an empty stomach. Your body will need the energy to aid in moving blood to the core to keep your internal organs protected during your session. Your body will also need the energy to help itself heat back up after the session. It’s recommended to eat a light, healthy, well-balanced meal or a snack before you head to your cryotherapy appointment. 

Keep Your Body Moving

It’s recommended that you keep your body moving while you’re in the cryotherapy chamber. You can move your legs as if you’re marching in place, wiggle your toes and fingers, sway back and forth, shake your arms, etc. The continuous movement will help keep your blood moving and prevent you from becoming overly cold, making it easier for your body to heat back up after the session. 

Ready for Your Cryotherapy Session?

If you’re looking to optimize your health, speed up recovery, and heal your body, give cryotherapy a try. It’s a quick and easy way to boost your health and provides many additional benefits. And don’t forget to follow the above tips before and after your first session.
Ready to learn more or book your first cryotherapy session? CORR offers whole-body cryotherapy treatments, and our expert team is here to answer all your questions and guide you through the process. To learn more, reach out to our team today.